美国小学英语教材5:第76课 邓肯的鸟房客(6)

 About a fortnight later the youngsters began to show their heads and their speckled breasts at the doorway¹, and presently they attempted to fly to the roof. 大约两个星期以后，蓝鸟宝宝们开始在门口露出头和有斑点的胸部，不久它们就想飞到屋顶上去。

Three of them succeeded, but the fourth fluttered to the ground; 有三只成功了，其余四只坠落在地；

and Duncan’s mother, who happened to be watching, was just in time to save it from a neighbor’s cat. 邓肯的妈妈正好在旁边看着，她及时地从邻居家的猫手里把它们救了出来。

The hired man got a ladder and put the young bird back in the nest, 雇工拿来一架梯子，把小鸟放回巢里。

and very soon the little family got safely away. 很快，这个小家庭就平安地飞走了。

Duncan was so much encouraged by his success that he began to plan for the following season. 邓肯被他的成功所鼓舞，他开始为下一个季节做打算。

He built smaller, single-roomed houses for the bluebirds and tree-swallows, and put them up in the fall. 他为蓝知更鸟和树燕子建造了更小的单间房屋，并在秋天搭建起来。

He saved the larger house for the martins this time, by blocking the doorways² with strips of wood until it was about time for them to return. 这一次他把大房子留给了马丁，用木条堵住了门口，等它们再归。

Just as he had hoped, the first bluebirds built in one of the smaller boxes, and a pair of tree swallows in the other. 如他所期，第一只蓝知更鸟的窝建在一个小盒子里，一双树燕住在另一个盒子里。

But when he spoke³ of trying to get the purple martins, most of the neighbors shook their heads and laughed. 但当他说到想要让紫燕飞来，大多数邻居都摇头大笑。

 

1 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

2 doorways   

n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The houses belched people; the doorways spewed out children. 从各家茅屋里涌出一堆一堆的人群，从门口蹦出一群一群小孩。 来自辞典例句
• He rambled under the walls and doorways. 他就顺着墙根和门楼遛跶。 来自辞典例句

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。